5 Murder Ballads

‘In the pines, in the pines,
Where the sun never shines,
And we shiver
When the cold wind blows’

– American folksong, ca. 1870

In the Pines is a collection of five graphic tales based on murder ballads: traditional songs about a gruesome event, either true or fictional. These are grim stories about unrequited love, crimes of passion, anger, jealousy and greed. The musis is deeply rooted in the American tradition and still new music is being created by artists such as Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle and Nick Cave.

Erik Kriek has loved this music for years. He chose five of his favourite, old and new songs for In the Pines, and reworked them into new, original graphic stories. The lyrics by among others Gillian Welch and Steve Earle, inspired five grim stories about love, treason, life and – of course – death. The artwork breathes the atmosphere of early twentieth-century America. In the vast Appalachian pines, things happen that sometimes best go unseen…